Fans can’t stand Manchester City’s new kit for 2018-19

Tuesday night’s match between Manchester City and Brighton was more significant for the off-field events, rather than the 3-1 procession that played out on the pitch.

First and foremost, it was Yaya Toure’s final ever game at the Etihad as a City player. The Ivorian powerhouse is moving on to pastures new at the end of the season, and Pep Guardiola’s side face Southampton on the final day this Sunday.

Toure, who’s adored by his team-mates and City fans, was also one of the players debuting next season’s home shirt.

The Nike-made kits follow tradition only so far. They’re sky blue (of course), sponsored by Etihad Airways, and are accompanied with white shorts, but there’s a few things about it that have tongues wagging.

First of all, the socks are navy blue. But that’s not as peculiar as the collar. It’s, well, just plain weird. Take a look:

It’s a strange, low-cut crew collar with a button. And the sleeves are pretty odd too.

Look at Kevin de Bruyne looking all uncomfortable on it here:

Even Kev, the smoothest operator in the Premier League, is struggling to pull it off.

But we’re not here to tell you it’s rubbish (we are a bit, but it means more when others think it is too), we put the new kit to the good people of Instagram. And they weren’t keen on it.

Here’s what they thought:

A whopping 82% of our 16,000-strong audience think it’s budget. Maybe it is budget. Or maybe lots of United fans hijacked the vote.

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